Authors: Jose Corpus, Kenneth Kong, Aida Raquel Recinos Ibarra, ​ Jacqueline Salazar Romo, Alexandra Vasquez, Jose Velasco ANTHRO 25A: Environmental Injustice Instructor: Prof. Dr. Kim Fortun Department of Cultural Anthropology Graduate Teaching Associates: Kaitlyn Rabach Tim Schütz Undergraduate Teaching Associates Nina Parshekofteh Lafayette Pierre White University of California Irvine, Fall 2019 TABLE OF CONTENTS What is the setting of this case? 3 What environmental threats contribute to slow disasters in this setting? What data is available to characterize these threats posed by slow disasters in the community? [Jose Corpus] 6 What factors -- social, cultural, political, technological, ecological -- contribute to environmental health vulnerability and injustice in this setting? [Jose Alejandro Velasco] 10 Who are the stakeholders, what are their characteristics, and what are their perceptions of the problems? [Alexandra Vasquez] 15 What have different stakeholder groups done (or not done) in response to the problems in this case? [Collaborative] 16 How have big media outlets and environmental organizations covered environmental problems related to worse case scenarios in this setting? [Collaborative] 18 What extra-local actions (at state, national or international levels) would reduce environmental vulnerability and injustice related to fast disaster in this setting and similar settings? [Kenneth Kong] 22 What kinds of data and research would be useful in efforts to characterize and address environmental threats (related to fast disaster, pollution and climate change) in this setting and similar settings? [Jacqueline Salazar Romo] 24 What, in your view, is ethically wrong or unjust in this case? [Aida Recinos Ibarra] 26 BIBLIOGRAPHY 28 2 Fig 1: Location of South Los Angeles in Los Angeles County. Wikipedia. Retrieved November 9, 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Los_Angeles. ​ ​ 1. What is the setting of this case? Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, situated ​ south of downtown Los Angeles. Compton is one of the oldest cities in the county and on May 11, 1888, was the eighth city to incorporate. Compton has 97,612 overall population, 49% male residents and 51% female residents. 29.6% for White ​ Non-Hispanic residents, 25.4% for Black residents, 27.5% for Hispanic or Latino residents, 52.8% for American Indian residents, 32.8% for other race residents, 22.1% for two or more races residents. Compton is a relatively young community, the median resident age is 30.4 years, which is 6 years younger than CA resident median age. The median household income in Compton city is $49.125, which is lower than the median household income in CA, and estimated median house or condo value is $327,900 which ​ also lower than the median CA value. Mean prices in 2016 in Compton city: all housing units: $322,233; detached houses: $332,162; townhouses or other attached units: $283,411; in 2-unit structures: $571,392; in 3-to-4-unit structures: $395,642; in 5-or-more-unit structures: $235,438; mobile homes: $57,800 (City Data 2019) The city ​ ​ ​ 2 2 has a total area of 10.1 square miles (26 km )​ . 10.0 square miles (26 km )​ of it is land and ​ ​ 2 0.1 square miles (0.26 km )​ of it (1.03%) is water. (United States Census Bureau 2019) ​ 3 Following the 1965 Watts Riot, crime in Compton rose sharply as more middle class residents fled. By 1970, it had the highest crime rates in the state of California. Compton's violent reputation reached the national spotlight in the late 1980s. Compton city is a diverse and young community, but due to the low average income and high cost of living index the city has a high crime rate. Figure 2. Fig. 1: Selected area for the City of Compton. EPA EJ Screen Report, City of ​ ​ ​ Compton, 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2019. Screenshot taken by author. ​ 4 Fig. 3: Demographic indicators for Compton. EPA EJScreen Report, City of Compton, ​ ​ ​ 2018. Retrieved November 9, 2019. Screenshot taken by author. Fig. 4: High scoring census tracts in Compton, CalEnviroScreen 3.0, 2019. Retrieved ​ November 9, 2019. Screenshot taken by author. 5 Together, the data indicates Compton status as a low-income and structurally disadvantaged city. Along with the crime and demographic statistics, Compton is a community cares less about their environment, because of the low income and high crime rate. The city doesn’t have enough funds to address their environmental problems. But since Compton has a younger population group, it will be easier to motivate people to take their environmental issues seriously. 2. What environmental threats contribute to slow disasters in this setting? What data is available to characterize these threats posed by slow disasters in the community? [Jose Corpus] Some major environmental threats which contribute heavily to slow disasters in South Los Angeles are air pollution, soil contamination, lead poisoning, and noise pollution. A massive contributor for slow disaster is the air pollution. The effects of continual exposure to this exposure can be detrimental to a person’s health. This is because small particles of gasoline and diesel use can penetrate the lungs of surrounding people and ​ lodge into their lungs (Scauzillo 2018). As a result this can cause health complications amongst residents such as: pulmonary disease hard of breathing, and more. Again, this further shows the threat of this slow disaster amongst numerous residents as a result of air pollution. As seen in Figure A below, the orange line indicates the amount of particles ​ (referenced in the paragraph above) present in the air versus the amount of particles present in the area just 1800 feet away from the freeway. This substantiates that due to the amount of particles present from being near the freeway, these residents are likely to experience health complications due to fine particles. Noise pollution is also a major contributor to slow disasters. In a study by Stansfeld and Matheson, noise can: increase blood pressure, increase heart rate, and disturb mood, reaction time and more. As seen in Figure C, these increases in blood pressure and heart rate can lead to very serious threats such as heart attack and heart failure (heart.org 2016). Another contributor to slow disasters is lead poisoning. As seen in Figure B below, a majority of the areas in LA have elevated levels of lead above the recommended national value amongst children. This shows that lead is present in thousands of children, and if these levels continue to rise, it can lead to adverse effects. These effects can lead to 6 decreased ability to speak and move in children (Schneyer 2017). The final environmental threat which helps contribute to slow disaster is soil contamination. At lead-based soil contamination can cause birth defects and various forms of cancer (Chandler 2017). Thus, in this same article by Chandler, when soil contamination was found at Jordan Downs in the Watt, hundreds of people were forced to leave the area in fear of incurring these health complications. Some data that is available to characterize these threats posed by slow disasters in the community are the number of, “unhealthy” days a community can have. A day counts as unhealthy when the, “ozone and particles [on a particular community] exceeded federal safety levels” (Scauzillo 2018). As seen in Figure D, LA has a massive lead among the number of unhealthy day when compared to other major metropolitan cities. Another are studies done by universities which correlate pollution and certain complications. Fig A: Amount of ultrafine particles near freeways, TSI P-Trak Ultrafine Particle Counter 8525 readings on Aug 20, 2015 and Sept 24, 2015. Screenshot taken by Jose Corpus. 7 Fig B: Percent of Elevated Levels of Lead in Children in Various LA areas, Reuter’s Investigates. Retrieved November 8, 2019. Screenshot taken by Jose Corpus. Fig C: Potential Health Threats From High Blood Pressure, Heart.org. Accessed 8 November 8th, 2019. Screenshot taken by Jose Corpus. Fig D: Number of Unhealthy Days by Major Metropolitan Area, Propel L.A. and EPA. Accessed November 8th 2019. Screenshot taken by Jose Corpus. 9 3. What factors -- social, cultural, political, technological, ecological -- contribute to environmental health vulnerability and injustice in this setting? [Jose Alejandro Velasco] ● Environmental racism ● Health Vulnerability ● Toxic Release ● Hazardous Waste ● Drinking Water ● Economic Injustice ● Community Underrepresentation ● Political Projects Watts in Southern California is an impoverished community with majority people of color. The California Environmental Protection Agency said, “Watts is among the top 5% most polluted and vulnerable communities in the state. Unsurprisingly, the residents of Watts have the lowest life expectancy of any other community in California nearly 12 years lower than the residents of nearby Brentwood.” (PSR*LA) Many sites such as schools, housing and other local areas show contaminated areas that stopped a local project that would better the neighborhood. When factoring in how South LA is enclosed by freeways and high traffic commercial corridors– the I-10 to the North, I-105 to the South, and I-405 to the West and the Alameda Corridor to the East. This can contribute to high amounts of air pollution and is thought that these routes went through politically disenfranchised black and brown communities. Reports show, “Testing of the site has shown toxic levels of lead and other deadly chemicals.” (Russell 2018 ). Environmental racism refers to the way in which minority group neighborhoods are burdened with a disproportionate number of hazards, including toxic waste facilities, garbage dumps, and other sources of environmental pollution and foul odors that lower the quality of life. Census tract score provided by the CalEnviroScreen rank Watts in Los Angeles California as a disadvantaged community due to its index score of 74.46 making it in the 96th percentile community that are disproportionately burdened by, and vulnerable to, multiple sources of pollution (CalEnviroScreen).